


Dancing Delight

by GetMcDunkedOn



Series: A Skeleton's Despair [6]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dancefell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Dancefell Papyrus (Undertale), Dancefell Sans (Undertale), Dancetale Papyrus (Undertale), Dancetale Sans (Undertale), Domestic Violence, M/M, Underswap Papyrus (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25887085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GetMcDunkedOn/pseuds/GetMcDunkedOn
Summary: Stretch's next foray into the multiverse lands him in Dancefell, a place where everyone must dance at least one style, or they're easy pickings for some LV. The resident Sans is nice, with a stutter, and helps Stretch look for his brother. But Stretch gets tangled up in some... personal issues.
Relationships: Grillby/Sans (Undertale), Papyrus/Sans (Undertale), dancefell Sans/swap Papyrus
Series: A Skeleton's Despair [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807543
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> This is the next part of "A Skeleton's Despair," and it should probably be 3 chapters long! Go check out "A King's Plan" for Blue's side of the story. If you like Apollo, you can check out "The Shape Of You" in my page, though it's on hiatus for a while... For now, I hope you like this!

Stretch thought he might be sort of getting the hang of the whole world-hopping thing. Yes, every world was vastly different, but didn’t that mean he was starting to be prepared for anything? He had some confidence as he again watched the machine light up, prepared to land somewhere new. Some nervousness, but also some confidence.

It was a bed, again. However, this time, the bed was already occupied, and he was aware of it, because there was a yell of shock. He was unceremoniously shoved, landing on the floor with a grunt of pain.

“Ow. Shit. Hello?”

“wh-wh-who the h-h- who a-are yo-ou?” demanded a shaky voice. The light turned on at the same time that a thudding bass beat started to sound faintly. The skeleton that looked down at him had the same kind of skull shape as Sans, about one inch shorter, and with very sharp teeth. There was a red collar around his neck, with golden spikes jutting out, like a dog’s collar. He tilted his head, obviously confused at the sight of Stretch, but the music in the air seemed vaguely… threatening.

Stretch lifted his hands to show he was unarmed, not getting up from where he was sprawled on the floor.

“Easy, buddy. I’m not a threat, I’m just, uh… My name’s Stretch. It’s kind of a long story?”

After a long moment, the music faded. The skeleton grabbed a shirt from nearby and put it on, and it was then that Stretch realized the guy had only been wearing a pair of shorts, and nothing else. He flushed and coughed awkwardly.

“Uh… sorry. I dunno why I landed in your bed… I guess it’s a pattern.”

“i-i do-on’t u-unders-sta-” The guy was very stuttery, and it seemed to break off in frustration and take a deep breath. “e-explain yourself? ple-ease?”

“Sure, yeah, of course. Uh. You wanna grab your, uh… brother? Sister? I dunno. Your sibling? So I only have to explain once?”

The man looked stymied. “ho-ow did you kno-ow i ha-ave a bro-other?”

“Well, that’s part of the story.”

He sighed and pulled out his phone, checking the time, then frowned.

“ju-ust tell m-me. he-e’s already a-at work.”

“Well, alright…”

\- - - - -

The skeleton’s name was Apollo. Apollo slipped a fluffy black jacket on while Stretch explained, and got on some socks and some laceless shoes. Soft tangerine-colored mittens were tucked in his pockets for when he was out and about in Snowdin. He listened closely, and seemed sympathetic.

“i-i dunno wha-at i’d do wi-ithout my, my bro-other… i-i’m sorry. um… i-i could help lo-ook, but, um, o-only after wo-ork.”

“Oh, hey, that’s okay. Is it, um… safe? For me to look alone?”

“u-um… i-if you, uh… do-on’t pi-ick any fi-ights o-or ge-et arrogant… then... we-ell… yo-ou’re not co-ollared…” He considered this for a long moment.

“Um, yeah, what’s up with that, by the way?” He eyed the collar again, and Apollo reached up to trace it absently.

“i-it, um… it me-eans i’m… i’ve go-ot a da-ance partner. so-o i ca-an’t, um… be cla-aimed by a-anyone else. i-it’s, um, protection? i-if someone hu-urts me, the-ey can be pu-unished by la-aw.”

“So you’re like… a belonging?” Stretch asked, shocked. “That’s awful!”

He shrugged. “i-i mean, i-i’m not tre-eated li-ike one? i-it’s… the-e only wa-ay the la-aw can pro-otect me, re-eally. i-i don’t mi-ind… i-it’s just…” He looked away. “i-i don’t da-ance the same wa-ay, so…”

“What does dancing have to do with anything?”

“u-um… do-on’t you da-ance?”

“No?”

“re-eally? ho-ow do you fi-ight? ho-ow do you, u-um, express yo-ourself?”

“Well, uh… We take turns fighting, where I’m from… Just bones, usually, for me? As for expressing myself, I guess there are artists, but I just… talk or whatever.”

Apollo looked completely stymied. “o-okay, u-um… we-ell… i-if you can’t da-ance, then, um… ma-aybe stay here… a-and after wo-ork, i’ll, um… te-each you a bi-it, o-okay?”

“Uh. Sure. Yeah, that’s fine.” Stretch didn’t like the idea of waiting so long to look for Sans, but he supposed he didn’t have a choice. What with the weird collar thing, the apparent sharpness of the monsters here, and now this dance-fighting thing… Well, it wouldn’t help Sans if he got beaten up by randos who decided he looked at them funny. So he followed Apollo downstairs, taking the machine with him, and plopped on the couch. Apollo got him some cereal and headed off with a protein bar and a waffle, leaving him alone.

After some time fiddling with the machine, trying to figure out any information about the verse he was in (he only managed to figure out that it was extremely low-frequency, very different from his own), he decided to turn on the TV. Maybe NTT would pass the time. But there was no NTT, it seemed. Instead, there was this weird tap-dancing robot with four legs and four arms, with a black, red and yellow aesthetic. While the channel appeared to be MTT-TV, his character was referred to as ‘Achilles’ when addressed. The soaps were weird, full of random musical numbers and lots of singing and dancing, but also lots of drama and violence. He was amazed at the amount of fake blood and dust. The news shows proved to be enlightening, but also confusing. Apparently, His Majesty had declared another surprise Ensemble Evaluation, whatever that meant. But people were advised to get lots of practice in and check when they were slated for performance, as they certainly didn’t want to underimpress. Stretch wondered if that applied to him in any way. He wasn’t from here, but if there were surprise evaluations, would there be police (the Ensemble??) going to people’s houses demanding something? Would he have to hide? He filed those questions away for when Apollo got home.

He wound up napping for most of the afternoon, bored and unwilling to snoop around. TV could only be entertaining for so long, especially the news and these dancey soap operas. He felt bad rooting around the fridge for lunch, but Apollo had never expressly forbade him from anything. He supposed it was fine.

Sometime after 4, Apollo returned, dusting off powdery snow from his outfit. Stretch perked up from where he’d been dozing on the couch, his sandwich plate resting on his chest. He got up and magicked it to the sink.

“Hey! Welcome back. We gonna go?”

Apollo jumped a little, looking over, then relaxed. “o-oh, ri-ight, um, ye-eah. yeah. um, i-is, do-o you mind if we-e do thi-is out i-in the fo-orest? where pe-eople ca-an’t see?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, that’s no problem. Hey, the cold goes _right through me_ , anyway, eh?”

Apollo giggled a little. “ri-ight, yeah… c-c’mon, then…” He took Stretch’s hand and ported them to near the door out in the forest, then stretched a little. “o-okay, um… hmm… we-ell… i-i could sta-art with ba-allroom… e-everyone knows tha-at…”

“Ballroom? Fancy stuff, right?”

“we-ell, um, ye-eah, but… i-it’s easy! re-eally. no-ot a lot o-of steps. u-um… he-ere…”

The shorter skeleton pulled out a boombox and set it on his station, then fiddled around with tapes until he put one in and pressed play. Elegant music started to fill the area, and Apollo came back over and guided Stretch’s hands to the correct places on his body.

“yo-ou’re tall, but yo-ou’re a beginner, so-o… be-est to play the fo-ollower pa-art, i think. so i le-ead… fi-irst step like thi-is…”

He started to guide Stretch through the steps of the waltz, nudging his foot to the right places, murmuring directions. Honestly, it was pretty easy. He only messed up a few times, when he got confused as to which direction to go next. But he got the hang of it soon enough. When Apollo picked up the pace to match the beat of the music, he was able to follow along, watching their feet.

“e-eyes up here…” Stretch obeyed, lifting his gaze. Apollo smiled. “i-it’s fun, but pe-eople fight thi-is way… yo-ou have to wa-atch.”

“Right. Yeah, fighting. How does that work?”

A quiet hum. “mo-ostly… attacks follow the be-eat. they go whe-ere you’re no-ot supposed to go. i-if you step ri-ight, you’re sa-afe. tha-at’s why ballroom is e-easy, i-it’s predictable… o-others aren’t a-as easy. the-ey require mo-ore spontane-eity. like… hi-ip hop. my spe-ecialty…”

“Wow, you do hip hop? Do you spin on your head and stuff?”

“heh, u-um, ye-eah, that’s a-a part o-of it… there’s lo-ots more tha-an that, tho-ough… i ca-an teach you tha-at too?”

“Yeah! Lay it on me. If I know more, I’ll be safer looking for my brother, right?”

“ye-eah… a-and you co-ould a-ask around in, um, the clu-ub…”

“The club?”

“mhm, i-in snowdin? the ba-ar and clu-ub.”

“Oh.” He guessed that was what replaced Muffet’s here. “Cool, let’s do this.”

“o-okay.” He pulled away and pulled out that tape, then after a little more rummaging, put on some hiphop music. Another stretch, and then he started to dance as a demonstration. Stretch was enraptured, watching him. He moved so well, perfectly in time. There were fluid and jerky motions alike, moves he was sure had names and took plenty of practice. There was no spinning on his head, but there was plenty of footwork and arm movements. But it wasn’t just that… He was smiling wide as he danced, looking so happy. So fulfilled. The sight made Stretch feel something warm in his soul. Clearly, this was what Apollo loved to do the most in the world.

When the song came to an end, Apollo came to a halt, panting a little but looking more energized than tired. Stretch clapped, grinning wide, and Apollo blushed. He had a tangerine-colored blush, faded orange almost pinkish. It matched his mittens, oddly enough.

“That was so great! I dunno how good a pupil I’ll be, but I’ll try my best.”

“hehe, tha-anks… i-i’m sure you’ll do-o fine. yo-ou can at le-east ca-arry a beat, tha-at’s a good start.”

\- - - - -

They spent the better part of two hours practicing. Stretch learned fun and weirdly-named dance moves like ‘popping’ and ‘locking’ and ‘boogaloo’ (that one was fun). It turned out his lanky build, with the long legs, made for pretty good dancing. He felt really stupid at first, trying to mimic Apollo’s instruction. He was sure he sort of looked it, too. But he started to get the hang of it, and Apollo kept encouraging him, his stutter fading a little.

Finally, Apollo stopped the music. “i-i, um… i think you’re go-onna do great. i-i have some stuff i-i’ve gotta do, but, um, you go-o on to the clu-ub, okay? a-ask around, do some pra-actice.”

“Sure. Yeah.” He was tired after all of the activity, and he’d like another nap, but now that he’d been given the go-ahead to look for his brother, he couldn’t just put it off. He had to try. He headed back to Snowdin, walking so that he had some time to cool off and catch his breath. When he reached the club (apparently named ‘The Dancing Sprites’), he took a moment to prepare himself, and then headed inside. He might find everything he’d need in here… Or it might be a total waste of time. Stars, he hoped not.


	2. The Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stretch tries to find information about his brother in the dancing club, but he doesn't find anything. He does, however, find a firey couple, and some trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tag warning for domestic abuse

The club was pretty populated this time of the evening, many people having come in for dinner and dancing. Stretch looked around a little, noting that it was sort of like a regular bar, except there was a large dance floor on one side, and all of the seating was on the other. The bar itself was at the back wall. It looked like there were fire sprites manning it, a small swarm of them. Examination of the dance floor showed why - the flame elemental, this world’s Grillby, was dancing with someone. Most of the dancers had cleared an area for the show, it seemed. The Grillby, a deep purple color with sharp glasses, was doing some kind of fast-paced dance - some kind of latin one, if he wasn’t mistaken - with… well, someone. It was hard to tell what kind of person it was. The monster was average in height. He had on pink pants and a zipped-up jacket, and his face was entirely covered by a soft bunny mask. He only caught the faintest flash of eyes from within. The jacket hood was up, and a pink baseball cap jutted out from underneath it, the word ‘Ace’ splayed on the bill in white.

As Stretch watched, the song came to an end with the masked monster dipping the Grillby low. The fire elemental laughed aloud and pulled up the mask just enough for a quick kiss, too quick and too little to see what was underneath. They straightened up and the bartender returned to his spot behind the bar, gently shooing the sprites away to resume work.

He supposed this was his cue to stop gawking at the doorway and actually mingle. He was nervous about dancing on the dance floor, but he approached it nonetheless and slowly started trying to move through it. He didn't honestly think he'd find Sans just shaking it on the dance floor in this random world, but it felt wrong to at least check around, at least try and hear if anyone was talking about a weird short skeleton who didn't know how to dance-fight.

As Stretch tried to look natural on the dance floor, the baseball-capped monster in a bunny mask was dancing alone now, pulling out solo moves in a hip hop style that put Stretch's meager new knowledge to shame. There were plenty of whoops and hollers. At least the distraction allowed him to blend in a bit better. He didn't hear anything about Sans, which was about what he expected. It was still disappointing, though. He semi-danced his way back off the colored floor to head over to the bar.

As he took a seat, the bartender came up to him.

“You’re new,” he said, picking up his sunglasses a bit to look at Stretch up and down. “Haven’t seen more than two skeletons around before. The name’s Axel.”

Stretch smiled, even though that made his soul sink a little.

“hey, axel, i’m looking for my brother… a pretty short skeleton, blue bandana, starry eyes sometimes, flat teeth… you haven’t seen him?”

“Nope, can’t say I have, sorry buddy. You gonna buy a drink?”

Stretch sighed, disappointed all over again. He then considered, glancing at a nearby menu and picking it up to take a look. They seemed to have the standard kind of stuff plus some original mixes with cool music names and references he didn’t understand.

“can i get something sweet? with honey, if you have it? i’m not picky, whatever you know is good.”

“Can do.”

The fire elemental turned around and started to mix up a drink. What he turned around with was deep amber in color, with a bit of ice and some fruit on top. When Stretch took a sip, he was impressed - the honey was very much there, complimenting the fruit, but it was still a bit strong.

“wow, it’s good.”

“Heh, yeah, I’m good at what I do.” Axel smirked.

As Stretch sipped his drink, he looked back at the dancefloor. The masked monster in the Ace hat was still dancing, but soon enough, he came to a stop and wandered over. He took a seat next to Stretch and wiggled his fingers at Axel.

“My usual, hot stuff,” he said, voice strong and confident. Then he turned to look at Stretch, eyes gleaming behind the mask. “Hey, new guy.”

“hi,” Stretch said, a bit intimidated to be talking to someone who danced so damn well. “you, uh, you’re pretty good. heh.”

“Thanks.” The guy beamed. Axel set down another drink, this one more orangey, with a slice of grapefruit in it and… a whole-ass slice of a jalapeno, sitting there on top. Whoa. Hardcore. Ace popped that bit of pepper right into his mouth, then took a gulp of his drink. “You look down.”

“oh, yeah, i’m, uh, looking for my brother. he’s gone missing. but, he doesn’t seem to be around here…” Stretch sighed, taking another sip of his own drink.

“That sounds rough, sorry to hear it.”

“Hey, Ace, baby,” Axel interrupted, leaning over the bar. “you wanna do a full routine up on stage?”

“We didn’t practice, maybe tomorrow. So what’s your name, stranger?”

“uh, stretch.” He glanced between them as Axel visibly pouted.

“We’ll do the Shakira one, we’re about done with it. I wanna show you off, sexy.”

Ace drained his glass, then stood up and held out his hand. With another smirk, Axel came back around the bar and led him up to the stage. As they did another dance, brimming with sexuality, Stretch felt like a new dog on the block who just witnessed the alpha pissing all over his territory to make it clear to Stretch how they stood. He wasn’t sure why the aggressive flirting and the interruptions were aimed at him like that, but the message was pretty clear - don’t talk to his bunny mask boy.

He slowly drained his drink and put down an appropriate amount of G. He wasn’t getting anywhere here, and he didn’t have any desire to get in the way of prom kings one and two. So he got up and headed for the door again as Axel and Axe came back down off stage after the dance.

Before he could make it all the way out the door, a hand grabbed his. It was in a soft mitten. He glanced back to see Ace, who apparently shot right across the bar to catch him before he left.

“I’m sorry about your brother,” the masked monster said. “Really. Hey, try talking to Adonis, he’s part of the Ensemble. He’ll help you without making a stink.”

Stretch offered another smile, though this one was like a grimace.

“yeah, sure, alright. thanks. shouldn’t be too hard, i was already staying at his brother’s place, heh. i appreciate it, dude. see you around, maybe.”

He turned back around, barely missing how Ace cringed, glancing to Axel nearby, who was bristling, fire crackling dangerously.

\- - - - - - - - - -

Stretch wandered his way back to Apollo’s house, hands stuck in his pockets. The one drink wasn’t nearly enough to get him drunk, but that was almost a shame. It was getting depressing, having no results. The only thing he wanted in the multiverse was to just get a clue about Sans’s whereabouts, but… nothing. The time in between jumps always worried him. What was Berry doing? Was he alone? Scared? It had been so long, was he…? No. He wasn’t just dead somewhere. Stretch would find him. He would.

He came into the house rubbing under his sockets, and glanced up as someone popped their head out of the kitchen. It looked to be Apollo’s brother, whom he only knew by name. Adonis wore a nice dress shirt and casual slacks, easy clothes to dance in, and was quite tall. ridiculously so, over seven feet. He had sharp teeth like Apollo, but a cheerful smile.

“HELLO! YOU MUST BE STRETCH. I AM ADONIS. MY BROTHER TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR PLIGHT AND YOUR NEED TO STAY FOR A BIT WHILE YOU LOOK AROUND! DINNER IS ALMOST DONE, I’M MAKING PASTA. DO YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW WHERE THAT LAZYBONES IS?”

“heya, adonis.” He waved lazily, trying to wipe the sadness off his face. “oh, sorry, i dunno where he is, i thought he was here. you want me to go back out and look around?”

Adonis sighed. “NO, THAT’S QUITE ALRIGHT, HE’LL COME HOME SOON ENOUGH, I AM SURE… WELL, TAKE A SEAT, I’LL GIVE YOU A PLATE WHEN IT’S READY!”

“sure, alright.”

Stretch sat himself back down on the couch. Admittedly, he was pretty hungry. He’d only had a sandwich for lunch, and then he’d done all that activity with the dancing and such. He eagerly anticipated what he was given - which turned out to be ravioli, but it was pretty badly burnt. It hardly looked edible, if he was honest, and he nervously glanced up. Adonis was beaming at him, so hopeful. So he swallowed his chagrin and took a bite. It was… pretty nasty. But he choked it down and smiled anyway.

“good job!” he managed.

“YOU LIKE IT? I’M SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT! I HAVE BEEN PRACTICING!”

Privately, Stretch wondered what the heck his practice entailed, but he said nothing on it. He just forced himself to eat every bite, trying not to gag as he went on. It was painful, but it was magic, so his body accepted it well enough, even if his non-existent stomach churned. Adonis ate his share without seeming to notice the taste at all, just cheerful. When Stretch was done, he put the plate aside and took a deep breath.

“so, uh, about the ensemble, have any of you-”

He broke off as he saw Apollo creep down the stairs from the second floor. He hadn’t been home, but now he was coming down as if it was the most natural thing. Shortcuts were no surprise to Stretch, but what was a surprise was how Apollo had his hood up, trying to hide his face, as he slunk towards the kitchen.

Instantly uneasy, he got up without finishing his sentence. He followed Apollo into the kitchen, watching him hurriedly take food, fumbling a little.

“apollo?” Stretch asked, and the guy jumped, nearly dropping the plate.

“n-n-nothing! i-i mean! uh… d-did you… fi-ind anything…? a-at the clu-ub…?”

“Is something wrong?”

“u-um, i’m just, um, n-no, i-”

Rather than play a game about it, Stretch just ported closer and put his hand on Apollo’s shoulder, turning him around. His stomach dropped into his chest as he saw a massive burn/bruise mark around one socket.

“holy shit, dude, who punched you?”

“WHAT?” Adonis was coming into the kitchen now too, startled by this new development. “BROTHER? SOMEONE HURT YOU?”

“i-i, i, it was n-nothing, um, a-an accident! it wa-as…” Apollo pulled away from Stretch, pulling up his hood again shakily. Something about it up made Stretch feel a prickling at his mind. He looked Apollo up and down, and realized he’d changed into pink pants at some point, easy, loose ones for dancing. Familiar ones.

“oh my god, was that you in the bar? with axel? did he _punch_ you?”

Apollo cringed, turning away, hands shaking hard enough to fill the room with rattles.

“i… i… i di-idn’t want… i-i…”

“yes or no, dude. did he hit you?”

“...y-yeah…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look, I actually did the second chapter |D One more to go, fellas...


End file.
